Val McDermid’s bestselling novels have won the Los Angeles Times Book of the Year and the CWA Gold Dagger and Cartier Diamond Dagger awards. She is also a multiple finalist for the Edgar Awards; she was a 2016 Edgar Nominee for Best Fact Crime for Forensics, which won the Anthony Award for Nonfiction. She lives in Scotland.

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About The Book

Val McDermid’s Tony Hill and Carol Jordan novels are thrillers at their best. As Cross and Burn opens, Tony and Carol are facing the biggest challenge of their professional lives: how to live without each other. No one has seen Carol in three months, and without her, the police brass no longer want Tony’s services. Even more damaging is the fact that they both hold Tony responsible for the bloody havoc their last case wreaked on Carol’s life and family, and Carol has sworn she’ll never speak to Tony again. But just because Tony and Carol’s relationship is finished doesn’t mean the killing is. Someone is killing women, all of whom bear a striking resemblance to Carol Jordan. And when the evidence begins to point in a disturbing and unexpected direction, thinking the unthinkable seems the only possible answer.

Praise

“Cross and Burn is a gripping read on a number of levels. . . . Val is back in top form with this novel. Satisfying on many different levels.” —Deadly Pleasures

“Val McDermid’s compulsively readable Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series finds a fresh hell to discover in her latest installment. . . . While McDermid is top of her class when it comes to writing intelligent, twisty, suspenseful thrillers, one of her strongest talents as a writer is her concern about relationships. . . . Completely absorbing. The way the characters are drawn so three dimensionally enriches every part of McDermid’s novels. Cross and Burn is well worth the reading journey.” —Robin Agnew, Mystery Scene

“Hill and Jordan dominate as brilliantly as ever.” —The Times (Saturday Review) (UK)

“Enthralling and engrossing, perfect in every way. . . . There is no good place to stop reading Cross and Burn. The series . . . gets better and better. . . . Hill and Jordan, whether together or apart, are fascinating characters, and this latest installment of their lives is too good to miss—whether you’ve been along for the ride since the beginning or just jumped on the train.” —Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com

“Fiendishly clever . . . The ingenious way in which [the villain] tests the mettle of Hill and Jordan is not to be missed by fans of the unusual sleuthing duo.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“With its layered plot, compelling dialogue and McDermid’s trademark characters, Cross and Burn is intense and utterly engrossing . . . a joy to read. . . . Her strongest work to date—and that’s saying a very great deal—Cross and Burn is a delicious gift to readers for the new year, from the pen of one of the most talented crime writers around.” —Jim Napier, Reviewing the Evidence (blog)

“Fans of criminal psychologist Tony Hill and cop Carol Jordan will be delighted to see them pressed back into action. . . . As ever, McDermid’s gift for taking ordinary, everyday events and giving them a sinister twist, plus her keen observations of human nature, make for a truly gripping tale.” —Northamptonshire Telegraph (UK)

“McDermid earns her customary high marks for planting clues, mastering procedural detail and maintaining suspense as the net closes. As usual, however, the endlessly fraught relationships among the continuing characters are the real draw.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Fans will admire Val for continuing to break borders and uncovering such intense and taboo issues. . . . McDermid unfolds a great study on human nature and the twisted individuals living on the fringes of society. . . . A tight assemblage of accidents just waiting to explode. . . snowballs into a chaotic and tense finale leaving little doubt about McDermid’s expertise.” —Michael Leonard, Curled Up with a Good Book (Blog)